The Shores Of Ignorance (Child Of Ignorance Series 1)
by The Demon Of Sloth
Summary: Barnacle's daughter had mysteriously disappeared one night. He doesn't want the same to happen to his son, thus keeping him confined within the walls of the Octopod. But there is more going on. Kwazii seems to be hiding something from him, Shellington and Dashi's second daughter has been acting strangely. It doesn't help when his son was swept away in a storm.
1. Ch 0--The Drowning

**Description:** Barnacle's daughter had mysteriously disappeared one night. He doesn't want the same to happen to his son, thus keeping him confined within the walls of the Octopod. But there is more going on that the vanishing of his daughter. Kwazii seems to be hiding something from him, Shellington and Dashi's second daughter has been acting strangely ever since she turned 12. It doesn't help when his son was swept away in a storm while sneaking out for a midnight swim.

The Shores Of Ignorance

Chapter 0—The Drowning

 **Barnacles**

"Do you have any leads Dashi?" Captain Barnacles asked his crewmate. He held onto a small shred of hope that she would nod her head eagerly and tell him where she was, but as expected, she shook her head in dismay.

"I'm afraid not. Somehow I can't track her radio on the gup finder map."

"Thanks anyway." Barnacles sighed as he headed to the cafeteria for a snack. The Vegimals weren't their usual chirpy selves. Even though they weren't moaning and sighing, they didn't have the same playful aurora they usually had. Barrot waddled to the captain and held up a tray of fish biscuits. He tried to smile as he politely took a piece and ate it, but failed.

Heading to his bedroom, he plonked himself on the double sized bed and covered his face with his paws, stressed. ( _How did it come to this? Why must this happen? I want to know if she's dead or alive, at least I can properly moron her...)_

It has been an entire month since her disappearance. The Octonauts have put their best efforts into finding her; from endlessly trying to locate her radio to sending search parties. But no such luck. He would wake up every day, carrying determination and hope in his heart that one day she would be found. But as the days progressed on, he was beginning to lose them bit by bit. If this carries on, he would just come to a conclusion that she was dead.

Captain Barnacles prayed that such a day would not come. He couldn't bear to break the news to Keone that she was gone forever. He even told a white lie to him that she was away on a very long trip to explore somewhere new and wouldn't be back soon. Being a young cub, Keone believed him, which made the adult feel even more worse than he did when he found out that she went missing.

Even if he somehow was able to hide the fact that their search was futile, Barnacles knew that Keone would eventually find out. How was he going to tell him? "Oh, I lied to you when you were a cub about big sister going out exploring. Actually, she's probably dead, and I know this because we weren't able to find a single trace of her for years, so I gave up." So much for integrity.

The creature that was taking it the worst was their engineer. She was Tweak's flesh and blood, and even if she was a child out of wedlock, she still loved her deeply. The bunny might be at the garden harvesting her favourite food—carrots, or spending time with Keone in his bedroom at the launch bay.

Deciding to be a gentleman and check on his wife, Captain Barnacles headed to the garden, where he predicted they would be there, harvesting vegetables. The polar bear cub was happily picking up carrots with his mother, all the while humming the same song the vegimals would sing while they work. Tweak on the other hand had a glum expression etched on her face, trying her best not to cry.

Keone noticed his father's entrance for he greeted him with a bright smile. "Hi daddy! We're harvesting the veggies! Wanna help?"

The captain tried to replicate his son's smile, but he couldn't. Instead, he just shook his head. "No thanks. I think you two have everything under control."

"Okay! But can I ask you something? Why is mommy so sad? I asked if she was sad to see big sis go, but she told me that it was nothing. Maybe you can cheer her up?" He then looked at Barnacles with innocent eyes and he had to look away to stop the ache in his heart.

"Alright. See you." Barnacles waved as he exited through the octochute. He returned to his room and sat down on the bed again, but instead of covering his paws on his face, he opened his drawer where he kept his wedding photograph. He was wearing a smart black tuxedo while Tweak was wearing a pristine white gown. At a glance they may seem like a happy couple, but if you looked closely enough, you could see that their smiles were forced.

It was not like they were forced into an arranged marriage. It was due to careless and stupid behaviour during Dashi and Shellington's wedding party. They had a drink too many and done the deed with her on his bed. When the captain woke up the next day to discover the atrocious sin he had committed, he hurriedly transferred Tweak back to her own room without anyone noticing. Barnacles tried to forget everything that had happened, but after her constant vomiting, change of appetite and becoming less focused on her work, he realised that the ghost of the past had returned to haunt him.

If Tweak was married she wouldn't mind, but the fact that she was still single caused her to become devastated to hear the news that a life was growing inside her womb. After a very serious talk with her partner-in-crime, they decided to elope for the sake of the baby. After all, she couldn't bear to abandon the child or dump him or her in an orphanage where there was a chance that he or she would never be adopted.

The happy couple felt extremely bad when they found out the conspiracy between their captain and the engineer, but they told them not to worry as it was not their fault. Despite that, Dashi helped Tweak during her pregnancy, while Captain Barnacles tried to fix their broken relationship, even though it was broken up to the point where it couldn't be put back together.

The rest of the Octonauts decided to turn a blind eye to the whole incident and continue their lives and duties as per normal, but it was extremely hard for Barnacles and Tweak. The polar bear visited her once in a while in her room as she was unable to work due to her pregnancy, having gloomy chats about them and their child's future.

When the child was born, Tweak decided to name the bunny Teressa. She didn't have a concrete reason as to why she gave her that name—it came to her head randomly.

Teressa was a brave yet mischievous child, constantly trying to hitch a ride on the gups during missions, or playing with the many buttons on the HQ. She often spent time with her mother while her father was out on missions. She taught her the basics of engineering, how to fix the gups and the engine of the Octopod. When she became thirteen, she began more vigorous training for she would take her father's place as captain.

Keone was born when Teressa was six. Teressa was delighted to have a younger sibling, and they would often play together. Since their bedroom was at the launch bay, they were able to easily sneak out of the Octopod and take a midnight swim without getting caught. They never dared to venture too far from the Octopod due to the fear of being eaten by sharks. Sometimes they would hang out with the happy couple's offspring, Laurel and Hayley when the adults were too busy to entertain them.

Whenever the children would laugh and play, Captain Barnacles would sometimes wish that he were a cub again, where he didn't have responsibilities or problems. However, he knew that was wistful thinking.

Just then, Tweak entered the room, her sad expression still present. Barnacles flashed a sympathetic smile and his wife tried to reciprocate. She sat on the bed and asked how he was doing, in which he replied that he was fine. She knew it was a lie, but the engineer didn't question him.

"How's Keone?" Barnacles asked, even though he saw him half an hour ago.

"Fine." Tweak replied.

"Has he gone to bed?"

"Yes."

"How is the search going?"

"No such luck."

"How are the others?"

"Fine."

"Is there anything else for me to attend to?"

"No. I think I should check on the gups."

Barnacles raised a brow. "I thought you fixed them not long ago."

Tweak hastily stood up, as if wanting to rid herself from being anywhere near him. "I want to reconfirm that they are in tip top shape for tomorrow."

"Alright then."

Barnacles lay down and tried to fall asleep, but he couldn't. After constant tossing and turning, he decided to grab some hot cocoa when Tweak returned. He heard her sniffle before she got on the bed, falling asleep almost instantly. At times, the captain looked at her, squinting his eyes to see what was wrong with his wife, and he swore he could see wet streaks on her cheeks. He thought of trying to comfort Tweak, but the thought of intimacy was unenticing. It might bring out momentary joy, like tasting a long forgotten sweet, but he would probably want to spit right after. Eventually tiredness came, and he woke to the soft rays of sunlight that were able to penetrate through the waters.

Tweak was not beside him, probably headed to check on Keone.

Barnacles heads out for breakfast. It was just another day. The vegimals were cooking breakfast and his crewmates sitting down eating together as usual. He sat at his usual spot with Kwazii and Peso. They were having waffles with butter and maple syrup, along with coffee for the adults and hot cocoa for the children. The adults were occasionally making small chat while the children were making a lot of noise, discussing about how to spend their day and openly gossip about their parents.

"I heard strange noises coming from my parent's room." Laurel said.

"Yeah, at first we thought that they were wrestling or something, but then I remembered that mom doesn't like to wrestle. So me and Laurel were trying to guess what they were up to. In the end we decided that they were talking in their sleep."

"Our parents are strange." Laurel added.

Shellington and Dashi couldn't be any more embarrassed, their late night 'activities' being broadcasted by their children for the entire world to know.

"You're lucky to have normal parents, y'know Keone?" Hayley piped, taking a huge gulp of hot cocoa.

Keone scratched the back of his neck. "Oh, me? I don't know, they can act strange too."

"Really? Do your parents ever say 'jumping jellyfish' whenever they observe a sea creature?" Laurel said.

"Do _your_ parents ever say 'buncha muncha crunchy carrots' every time before they fix something?" Keone said.

Soon, they were having a full-on debate on who's parents were weirder. The happy couple left the cafeteria as soon as possible, not wanting to be embarrassed any further. Tweak also left early, feeling that their conversation made her awkward.

"... I swear every time he gets woken up in the middle of the night, he falls back asleep standig up!" Laurel cried as she hit her paw on the table.

"They even do weird stuff together, like kissing and stuff! Eww!" Hayley grimaced, her face turning sour.

"My parents never do that," Keone said flatly, "in fact, Teressa and I hardly ever see them together. It's like they're allergic to each other." The polar bear's eyes widened as he clamped his mouth with his paw, trying hard not to laugh at his own joke. He failed, as Laurel and Hayley were bursting into laughter. In the end, a polar bear, a sea otter and a dachshund were in hysterics. The twins were chanting "good one Keone! Good one!" between their uncontrollable laughter. Even Mason, the quiet kid let out a chuckle. He tried to stop by stuffing a piece of waffle in his beak, only to choke on it.

However, Barnacles did not find it funny. In fact, his son's remark left a painful stab in his heart. To avoid storming up to Keone and giving him a tight slap to the cheek, he gripped his utensils with the strength to snap a neck. Kwazii and Peso noticed their captain's discomfort and told him to calm down.

"Calm down captain. They don't mean it." Peso said calmly as he rested a flipper on his paw.

Kwazii nodded his head in agreement. "Aye matey. Kids will be kids."

Barnacles gritted his teeth and stormed out of the cafeteria, his breakfast long forgotten. The two adults could only sigh as the three children continued to laugh, unaware of what was going on around them.

 **...**

It was just another day.

Barnacles would check with Dashi if she found her or any signs of trouble in the ocean. She would say no, and he would move on to check on the others. He would check up on Keone, even though he rarely got into trouble without his sister.

Maybe he would be needed for another mission, be it big or small. He would attend to it, return back and check with Dashi and Keone again.

It was just another day. And the same for tomorrow. And the same for the day after tomorrow.

 **Hooray! I have returned to the Octonauts fandom and wrote something. Yipeee.**

 **This is a trilogy. Yes, you heard me right. This story is going to be quite lengthy, so hold on for the ride!**

 **P.S: Don't shoot me.**


	2. Ch I--Broken

The Shores Of Ignorance

Chapter I—Broken

 **6 years later**

 **Keone**

The sound of the octohatch being opened filled Keone's ears as the Gup A surfaced with three creatures inside. A black female cat with a teenage cat he assumed was her son, along with Uncle Kwazii. The teenager carried an oversized camping bag with him, and Keone thought that he would give way to the bag's sheer weight.

"Hey mom! Where do I put this thing?" The teenager yelled, obviously struggling to carry his bag.

The female cat turned to Kwazii, who then pointed at Keone's room. He flung his bag towards Teressa's bed, and the contents inside it spilled out, making a mess of the room.

"Whoopsies, sorry! I'll clean it up later!" He then turned to Keone. "Say, who's my roommate?"

Keone jabbed a thumb to his chest, staring at the cat.

Upon knowing that, he nervously scratched the back of his neck as his shoulders tensed. "Sorry again... err... what's your name?"

"Keone."

"Cool. I'm Caspar. Nice to meet ya." The grey cat offered his paw to shake, in which the polar bear shook back.

"So... what's the purpose of your visit?" Keone asked, raising a brow towards the mess Caspar made earlier.

"I said that I'll clean up, geez! Anyway, I'm not here for a visit, I'm here to _stay."_

"Woah, for real? Why?"

Caspar shrugged. "Don't know. It was mom's decision and she won't tell me why." He gave a quick glance at his mother, frowning while muttering something he couldn't hear.

"Oh. Why don't you pack up first and then I'll give you a tour around the Octopod." Keone offered, pointing at the direction of his room.

"Sure. You don't need to worry your pretty face about anything, _I'll clean up."_

 **...**

Once Caspar was done packing up and tidying up the room, they started the tour. Keone told him all the rooms, starting from the Launch Bay of course. Next, the HQ, the game pod, the garden pod, the cafeteria, the library, the lab and the many bedrooms. The cat quite enjoyed using the octochutes, screaming in delight whenever they entered one to head to another room.

When they were at the kitchen, the vegimals were happily singing their signature song while cooking up dinner. Caspar's first reaction was, "what the hell are these creatures?!" Immediately, all eyes were on him. There was an awkward silence when Tunip waddled towards the boys and offered a tray of fish biscuits.

"Chepa choo?"

Caspar turned to Keone. "What on earth is this thing saying?"

"I don't understand Vegimalese, but it doesn't take rocket science to know that he's just offering you fish biscuits."

"Fish biscuits? As in, literally fish baked into biscuits?"

"Oh no, it's just regular biscuits shaped like fish."

Caspar tentatively took a piece and took a nibble. His eyes widened a little, before taking larger bites. Soon, he ate at least seven pieces. To avoid him from eating up the entire tray, Keone dragged his roommate out of the kitchen to the other rooms. They were checking out the lab when it was time for dinner.

"You two better get going, it's dinner time." Uncle Shellington told them while looking through a microscope, probably observing algae of some sorts.

Caspar scoffed. "Well, aren't _you_ going? Do you eat your meals in the lab? Is that a trend for scientists these days?"

Keone stomped on his foot and he yelped, clutching it while hopping around in pain. "What the hell was that for?!"

 _"Don't be rude!"_

"Whatever man," Caspar rolled his eyes. "You don't have to be an asshole about it."

 **...**

"I'm not a pirate, if that's what you're wondering." Caspar said as he played with his utensils, hitting them on the table to create a beat.

The cafeteria was filled noise from the entire crew casually chatting with each other about their day. The duo sat at the furthest table, where they can have their own space to chat without any adult interfering.

Caspar noticed that the others were taking their plates on their own from the kitchen. He nudged Keone on the elbow and asked, "Hey, aren't we supposed to take our food? What are we sitting here waiting for? Do we have some sort of special treatment?"

Keone's mouth tugged up in a cheeky smile. "Yeah. Since it's your first day here, the vegimals wanted to serve you your food personally."

Hearing this, Caspar shivered ever so slightly, a strange feeling stirring inside of him signaled that whatever that was planned for him, he would not enjoy it the least bit.

Just then, Tominnow waddled over to their table with a plate full of lettuce, carrots and green mucky stuff that he couldn't identify. He stared at his plate, unsure of what to think of it. "What the heck is this green stuff?"

"Kelp."

"WHAT?!" Caspar yelled. At this, everyone was silent as they turned to face him, wondering what he was screaming about. All except Mason the penguin who continued to eat his meal as if nothing had happened. The cat ignored the many pairs of eyes staring right at him and continued, "Kelp? Of all things, you eat KELP? Not to mention the carrots and the lettuce! Yuck, this is beyond disgusting! Do you guys eat any _real_ food here besides fish biscuits?"

Keone felt like his entire body was on fire. He didn't expect him to go berserk at the sight of vegetables. It was embarrassing enough to have everyone staring at them, but he insulted the Octonauts by stating that what was on their plate was not 'real' food. He tried to say something, but his mouth was shut tight. What should he say? Should he try to calm him down or argue back?

Luckily, Uncle Kwazii broke the tense silence by saying, "ya should stop being a jerk and eat your food me hearty, or you'll starve for the rest of the night."

"But—"

"No buts. _Eat."_ Kwazii hissed in a threatening tone, his steely eyes piercing through his soul. The aurora emitting from him gave a clear message to everyone that he meant business.

Caspar groaned in annoyance as he stabbed the kelp with his fork. He twirled the plant around it, shivering before shutting his eyes and stuffing it in his mouth. As he chewed, he grimaced and his face had a faint shade of sickly green. Even after he swallowed it, his paws were still trembling ever so slightly.

He looked at Keone who had no trouble consuming the blob he called food. When Keone noticed Caspar was staring at him, he cocked his head to his left. "What's wrong? You don't like the food?"

"Of course not!" Caspar growled softly so that nobody else from the other tables could hear him. "This tastes like shit! How can you even stand the leafy taste of greens?"

Keone chuckled as he shrugged. "I have been eating this stuff since the day I could consume solid food, so yes, I can stand the taste. Maybe you would prefer kelp cakes or kelp burgers, they're tasty."

The cat's right eye twitched violently. "Do you and everyone else's diet revolve around kelp?"

Keone shooked his head. "Nope! We have clam sandwiches if you want." Caspar slammed his head on the table.

Deciding to change the subject that his friend disliked so much, the polar bear pointed at Caspar's eye patch and asked, "you said that you weren't a pirate, nor a pirate enthusiast, so why do you wear it?"

"My left eye was amputated cause of cancer when I was six."

"Oh! I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. It was the only way to stop my cancer from spreading further. Even though I have a glass eye, I don't enjoy wearing it since it doesn't feel like the real thing. So I just leave the eye socket as it is, but it scares creatures out so I put on this eye patch. Not that I'm complaining, it looks cool on me."

At first, Keone felt bad when he found out that he trekked into the wrong subject, and he almost expected Caspar to yell at how insensitive he was or give him the cold treatment. However, he didn't seem to mind talking about his amputated eye, and this put the polar bear at ease. When the cat offered to show him his glass eye though, he refused.

 **...**

It was weird to see someone else occupying Teressa's bed. Usually she would stay up late at night to draw blueprints for some new invention or tear apart a gadget and put it together again. Because of this, Keone would use earplugs to keep out noise. After Teressa was gone, his room felt empty and barren.

He had a fear of the dark when he was a cub, afraid of big bad sea monsters from Uncle Kwazii's tall tales entering the Octopod and eating him alive. His 'awesome big brave sister' would firmly place a balled paw on her chest and swear to protect him from monsters. Without his 'awesome big brave sister' to protect him from the horrors of the night, Keone would sleep with his parents or at the library with Professor Inkling. As he grew older and outgrew his fear of the dark, he returned to his room, but the absence of fluorescent light from Teressa's lamp and the clatter of gears and tools made him feel hollow inside.

Maybe Caspar could fill up the hollow space in his heart. Of course he could never truly replace Teressa, but it would be nice to have companionship with someone his age. He had the potential to become a great friend, and Keone wanted to draw out that potential.

He observed that Caspar was quite the chatterbox. He could ramble about anything for ages and not run out of saliva! He rambled on about his life back on California, about his bad grades and his hobby in skateboarding. Keone listened attentively for the first twenty minutes, but after a while he got bored and drifted off to lala land, all the while nodding his head to pretend to be listening.

Keone was thankful for Uncle Kwazii's interruption in their conversation through the screen where everyone contacts each other in the ship, telling Caspar to meet him at his pod. When he whined about how 'tired' he was, the lieutenant replied that he did not take no for an answer. The younger cat left with an annoyed sigh, and Keone laid back down on his bed.

 **...**

 **Kwazii**

It had been quite a shock to hear from Prynne after ten long years. Kwazii was doing his usual business when he received video message to pick her up along with their son. She looked somewhat hasty and a little worried, but she tried her best to hide it.

When he picked them up with the Gup A, it took a while to take in his son's new appearance. The last time he saw Caspar was when he was still a four year old kitten, playful and daring. He assumed the eye patch was something he wore for fun like himself.

Once the family was safely inside the Gup, Prynne blurted out everything. Her new boyfriend was a murder. She knew since she overheard him plotting to slay his business partner one night to gain access to his fortunes. At first she wanted to record the evidence to hand him over to the police, but he knew about their plan to turn him in. Prynne's plan was to hide her son with Kwazii as she didn't want her boyfriend to use Caspar as blackmail material. She would then find a way to get concrete evidence and throw her boyfriend in jail. After that she would take her son back and resume their lives as per normal.

Caspar sneered at his mother, blaming her for putting him in trouble because she was a slut. Kwazii yelled at him for his rudeness, but Prynne shook her head and took the insult, claiming that she deserved it for being a terrible mother. She even promised her son to make up to him after everything was over, but Caspar rolled his eyes in response.

Kwazii felt that he should get to know his son more and fill up the ten year gap. It was the least he could do as a father that hadn't been by his side during his crucial years.

He was cleaning his spyglass when Caspar entered the room.

"Good evening sir!" He said in a mock formal tone.

Kwazii turned to face him. "I am your father and you address me as such me hearty."

When he said 'me hearty', Caspar looked surprised as he cocked his head. "Wow, you're a pirate? Ah, that makes sense with that eye patch you wear, or have you actually lost your eye?"

"Lost me eye? Since when did your mom said that?"

"Mom? I'm sorry to burst your bubble sir, but I have never heard her mention _anything_ about my blood father," Caspar sneered, raising an eyebrow. "Even if she did mention some man who had a pirate dialect, I must have mixed it up with mom's other boyfriends' characteristics. I mean, I had so many stepfathers, many more than I can count!"

Of course, Kwazii knew that he was saying all this in such a disrespectful manner to spite him, but the prideful lieutenant wasn't going to give in to his teenage son's witty attitude.

"Now show some respect to your elders matey. Don't you dare speak in such a rude manner towards me!"

Caspar once again did his trademark eye roll and shrugged his shoulders to show that he was not intimidated by his father at all.

All the more made Kwazii want to punch him in the jaw.

Sensing his father's shoulders tense up and his fists balled up in anger, the grey cat chuckled and raised his brow challengingly. Smug chocolate brown eyes and annoyed emerald green eyes furiously clashed together in a miniature staring contest. Neither cat moved a muscle, until Kwazii decided that he was being immature and took a deep breath to cool down.

"Look, I don't want to fight. I just wanna talk."

"Talk? To some random stranger that my mom suddenly declared was my dad?"

"I know this is very strange and sudden but-"

"That's because it _is_ strange and sudden! You don't have any right to call me your son, and I don't have any right to call you my dad!" Kwazii jumped a little in shock. "Where were you when I had cancer? Where were you when I was about to get my eye amputated? Where were you when me and mom had family dinners? Where were you when everyone in school was gossiping about me being a fatherless kid and had a whore of a mother?"

Caspar's shoulders were heaving up and down, his breathing heavy after his rant. His arrogance has washed away and a troubled expression took form. For a fleeting moment he looked like a vulnerable and clueless kitten.

Kwazii frowned and tapped his foot rhythmically on the floor. "Still, that doesn't give you the privilege to be rude to me. I am trying to help and _you_ aren't making things easier for me."

The teenager shrieked in defeat before storming out of the room, leaving the Octonaut to tend to his ringing ears.

 **...**

If there was anyone else who understood his plight, it would be the captain. After all, they were the best of friends and had failed relationships. Even if Barnacle's son wasn't rebellious, he would still lend him a shoulder to lean on.

So during the next day, Kwazii requested to talk to him in private.

"Let me tell you captain, that little punk has serious attitude problems! I think that Prynne never bothered to keep his behaviour in check! Why I outta teach him a lesson about good manners!"

When Barnacles was silent for the entire time, the ex-pirate got annoyed. He expected to receive a lengthy lecture about parenting and temper control with his mighty captain wisdom, but now he felt as if he were talking to the wall.

"Yoohoo! Captain! Captain Barnacles!" Kwazii tapped the polar bear's right temple. "Anyone hoooooome?"

Barnacles growled as he swatted his paw away.

"Oh, finally some reaction from ya; I thought I was talking to the wall! So are you gonna answer me question?"

"I do not know how to deal with rebellious teenagers Kwazii. Maybe just... I don't know, do something nice for him or avoid getting into arguments? You _do_ know that I'm not the best parent in the world, right? Kwazii...?"

Almost immediately Kwazii sped away as though on a sugar rush to god knows where. He yelled his thanks to his captain as he disappeared through the winding hallways.

 **...**

In the lab, Shellington was busy hunched over a microscope studying what he thought was a new type of plankton while his eldest daughter, Laurel gave him a helping hand by passing equipment or sorting out the different test tubes. All was quiet except Shellington's occasional _hmm_ and Laurel's silent humming as she clinked the glass equipment together as if she were playing a glockenspiel. The atmosphere was peaceful, until a certain cat rudely barged into the lab while screaming, 'YEOOOOW!'

The two sea otters jumped in shock. Shellington knocked over his microscope and Laurel dropped the two test tubes that she was holding, the glass shattering into hundreds of pieces along with the liquid inside it spilling all over the floor. They turned to face the culprit with accusing glares.

Kwazii let out an awkward laugh as he glanced at the two angry sea otters. "Sorry me hearties, old habits die hard."

The scientist let out a sigh of annoyance. "Is there anything that I can help you with?"

"Parenting skills of course!"

"Specifically...?"

"How do you handle your kids? I sure can't."

Laurel bent down and began picking up the pieces of glass and Shellington offered to help.

"Basically," The scientist started, "you need to know the fundamentals of good parenting first. Good parenting helps foster empathy, honesty, self-reliance, self-control, kindness, cooperation, and cheerfulness. It also promotes intellectual curiosity, motivation, and desire to achieve. It helps protect children from—"

Not long before Shellington started speaking, his wife barged into the lab with red cheeks and was panting hardly. "She... _pant_ ling... _pant_...teeehh... _pant_...nggg... _pant..._ Hayley... _pant_...can't stop crying... _pant_ need help..."

Upon hearing this, he rushed over to Dashi and slowly massaged her shoulders as she coughed roughly. He instructed Laurel to clean up the mess by herself before leaving with Dashi, and Kwazii decided to tag along.

They arrived at the happy couple's bedroom where Hayley say at the edge of the bed bawling her eyes out. Her brown hair was a tangled mess and her entire face was red from crying. She reached out for a tissue and wiped her tears and snot, before throwing it in a tiny mountain of used tissue paper.

Dashi said, "I don't know what's wrong with her Shel... when I saw her she was crying and I couldn't comfort her. Since you're closer to Hayley than me, so I thought..."

Shellington approached Hayley and knelt down to her height and face her. "What's wrong sweetie? You can tell me what's bothering you."

Hayley sniffled and looked at her father with puffy red eyes. She was silent, until she took a deep breath and screamed, "you!"

"Me?" The Scotsman asked as he cocked his head.

"Yes! You! You and your damn song!" Hayley hollered as she pointed an accusing finger at her father, "because of you I can't get a wink of sleep, eat in peace, or read without that damn song replaying in my head a gazillion times!"

"Oh! My song was effective; it helped you memorise everything I taught you!"

" _Too_ effective! Now I can't get it out of my head, and it's all because of YOU!"

"Can someone please enlighten me here?" Kwazii asked as he lifted both arms in the air in confusion. Why in the seven seas is Hayley crying over some song?

Shellington chuckled as he turned to face the ex-pirate. "You see, Hayley here had some problem memorising sea creature's names that I taught her before, so I introduced her to the same song that I sung to the Vegimals when they wanted to learn about sea creatures! Turns out, it was effective, but too effective! Hahaha!"

The teenage dachshund slammed her balled paws on the bed in anger and hollered, "it's not funny dad! It's torture, absolute torture! Do you know how much I suffered from that damn song looping in my head the whole fucking day?!"

Dashi gasped in shock as she gave a light smack on her daughter's arm, chiding her about how she wasn't supposed to swear. Her husband told his wife to calm down while he ruffled his daughter's already messy hair to comfort her, and the distressed teen roughly smacked his arm away.

Deciding not to interrupt the family, Kwazii silently left the bedroom with the parents trying to comfort their wild adolescent child. Maybe he would properly ask Shellington about parenting tips later on. For now, he felt like eating some kelp cakes to distract himself.

 **Kwazii may be a little OOC in the story because I made him mature a little. He's way too childish in the show.**


	3. Ch II--Lament

The Shores Of Ignorance

Chapter II—Lament

 **Hayley**

Being the younger twin had its ups and downs. The good thing is that you had an older sibling to look after you, teach you and nurture you. The bad thing is that when your twin was the perfect child in your parent's eyes they would care more about her more than you, the less than perfect twin.

That was what Hayley felt everyday when she learned what jealousy was.

Laurel was the perfect little girl any parent could ask for. She was beautiful, polite, caring, organised and smart. Adults would often shower her with endless praise and after that they would sometimes chide Hayley for not being as perfect as her sister. Sometimes Laurel would defend her from the criticism, but Hayley didn't want any of her sympathy.

It was not because of her lack of trying! She put in a lot of effort into her studies and duties, but no matter how much blood and sweat she poured into her tasks, Laurel always managed to outshine her effortlessly.

Sometimes she would cry in the toilet, slamming her fists onto her temples while lamenting how worthless she was compared to her flawless sister. She would curse her name and wish she was the only child before slumping in defeat on the toilet bowl seat.

Hayley was currently an apprentice marine biologist, where her father would teach her everything he knew in his field of work—from the different species of sea creatures and how to gather research data.

She enjoyed her job and had no problem picking up all the skills that she needed to learn. However, she was still way behind her damnable sister Laurel.

Even so, Hayley refused to give up. If she gave up now, she would be admitting defeat, and there was no way that she wanted Laurel to win.

Even if it took a year, two years, five years, ten years, or even the rest of her life; she would continue to fight till the end.

Even if it meant turning both of their lives into a competition, it's okay, as long as Hayley witnesses her sister waving the white flag of surrender.

 **...**

"Now, where is that book... uugh..." Shellington groaned as he searched every nook and cranny for some sort of book. When he could not find it, he snapped his paws in annoyance. He then turned to face his daughter who was listening to music with her headphones. "Hayley dear, would you mind picking up _Sea Life and its Beauties— the ultimate encyclopedia to marine species_ please? Just tell Professor Inkling the title and he'll get it for you."

When she did not respond, the sea otter walked up to her and yanked her purple headphones from her ears.

"Hey! What's the big deal? Give it back!" Hayley snapped, trying to grab her prized possession from her father's paws.

"I asked you to pick me up a book, and you didn't hear me because of this thing. Now, please help me fetch _Sea Life and its Beauties—the ultimate encyclopedia to marine species."_

"Why can't you get it yourself? What am I, your maid!?"

"Hayley..." Shellington said sternly.

The young sea otter let out a loud groan. She rolled her eyes as she slumped out of bed like a slug and left to the library.

On the way there, she was constantly moaning and groaning, stomping the floor like an angry elephant. When she arrived at the library, she was really pissed at everyone and everything.

Professor Inkling noticed her (loud) arrival and put down his book to face her. "Ah, Hayley! How good to see you! Do you require anything?"

The teenage dachshund gave a short nod and told him the title of the book she needed, and the professor was happy to oblige.

All the while he was searching for the book, he tried to make small talk with her, but no response came, so he assumed that she was not in a good mood today. However, when he went to give her the book, he realised that she was not listening to him at all. Instead, she was listening to her music with her headphones at full blast, staring at the wall with renewed interest. She snatched the book roughly from his grasp and left as quickly as she came, leaving the aging professor muttering something about _teenagers these days…_

 **…**

Hayley's work was done for today, and she had the entire evening to herself. Honestly, she wanted to study a little longer as she was falling _way_ behind Laurel, but her father insisted that she rested.

"You've been working yourself to death for the past few months, you need a break." Shellington said with genuine concern in his voice.

"No!" Hayley shrieked, not averting her gaze from her book. "I _need_ to study! Just a bit more!" ( _So I can at least be in pace with Laurel.)_

He shook his head. "I will not take no for an answer. Now go and have some rest, young lady. Or you'll become a zombie in no time."

And so, here she was in the game room playing a video game. It was a simple game—it basically revolves around pressing the right buttons and to not be late. Not to mention that it was ridiculously _easy._ She wanted to play something else other than this lame game, but most of the games require more than one player, and she did not feel like asking anyone else (especially Laurel) to play with her, so she had no other choice. It was either playing the game or wandering around the Octopod.

Just as Hayley was about to throw the console out of the game pod in boredom, Keone and the new boy entered.

"So, what do you wanna play?" Keone asked the grey cat.

The cat shrugged. "Video games maybe?" He then laid his eyes on Hayley who was looking as bored as ever, and walked towards her. "Hey, whatcha playin'?"

Hayley let out an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. "A video game. What else?"

He raised both of his arms in mock surrender. "Woah, calm down missy. I was just asking. Besides, I wanna play too. What's it all about?"

She glared at him with pure annoyance. "Can't you tell? Don't tell me you don't know how to play this shit."

He observed the screen for a while. "Looks boring. Say, are there any other games? Like an RPG game or something?"

Hayley paused from her game and stared at the cat, dumbfounded. "What's an RPC? Is it some kind of website?"

"Yeah, what's that Caspar?" Keone asked, equally confused.

Now, it was Caspar's turn to look dumbfounded. He looked at the two teenagers back and forth, disbelief evident in his gaze. Finally, he laughed really hard. "Hahaha! You guys don't know? For real!? Ahahahahaha! Which era are you two born in anyway?"

Hayley scowled.

When Caspar's laughing fit subsided, he continued, "RPG stands for Role Playing Game, where you take the role of the main character in the game and follow a certain storyline. You do combat, puzzles and lots of fun stuff. Seriously, I wanna play one now."

The dachshund powered off the monitor and stood up to reach Caspar's level. He was a foot taller than her and had a well-built frame. She assumed that he played sports on land. "Look, there ain't any RPC games for you to play. It's either this or table tennis. Take your pick."

Caspar chuckled and nudged Keone on the arms. "Hey, you up for a game of table tennis?"

Keone nodded simply and went to pick up the tennis balls and rackets.

When Hayley turned and attempted to make a swift exit from the pod, the grey cat said her way, "after all, there isn't much games you can play under the ocean anyway. Hahaha…"

 **…**

The evening chime resonated throughout the Octopod, signalling that it was dinner time. Hayley grabbed her tray and hastily turned to leave, when a paw lay gently on her shoulders. She turned around to see the damned face that she least wanted to see.

Laurel smiled cheerfully, her eyes twinkling. "Hey sis, come and join me with mom and dad. You're always eating your meals in your room y'know."

Hayley forced a smile. She would have scowled and pushed her away, but she did not want to make a scene in front of so many adults.

The sea otter giggled in delight. "Yay! Come on!" She grabbed her sister's paw and dragged her to the table where their parents were currently seated. The couple beamed when they laid their eyes on their youngest daughter who had finally decided not to be anti-social anymore. It was a rarity to see her at the cafeteria; usually she would eat her meals in the confines of her room while studying like a madwoman.

Laurel began talking animatedly about how she learnt to hack. Meanwhile, Hayley was bowing her head while eating, rolling her eyes for the thousandth time today. Her father was nodding approvingly while her mother was smirking proudly.

"Oh, and I totally owned the server when I hacked it in less than three minutes!" The sea otter boasted.

"That's impressive. I mean, _very_ impressive. You can do it as well as your mother." Shellington complimented much to Dashi's and Laurel's glee.

Dashi nudged her husband playfully on the arm. "She learns it from the finest."

Shellington reciprocated. Soon the happy couple were playfully nudging and flirting with each other, much to their children's disgust. Laurel broke them up by changing the subject, asking Shellington about his science experiments.

Dinner seemed to drag on forever. For Hayley, sitting with her overly excited family for dinner was absolute torture. The more they chatted, the more annoyed she felt. Nobody seemed to notice her discomfort or awkwardness, or at least ask her what was wrong. Nope, they seemed to be in their own world, oblivious to everyone else around them.

With a groan, the dachshund stood up with her tray of half-finished food. Laurel snapped out of her trance and noticed her sister leaving the table. "Hey sis! Where you going?"

"I'm full." Hayley said, not bothering to turn around and make eye contact.

"Okay, see you!" Laurel then returned to her conversation at hand, giving Hayley the chance to make a tactful retreat.

 **…**

 **Keone**

Caspar noticed the dachshund from earlier storming out of the cafeteria and could not help but ask, "What's wrong with her?"

Keone looked up and shrugged. "Beats me."

"Is she always like that?" Caspar asked, twirling kelp and stabbing his carrots with his fork.

The polar bear nodded. "I don't know what her problem is. Maybe she's anti-social or a workaholic. She's always cooped up in her room studying."

Upon hearing this, Caspar laughed. "Haha, what a nerd. It's not as if she has a thousand students to compete with or exams to paranoia for. That or her parents are extremely demanding."

Keone blinked. "Dashi and Shellington aren't like that."

"Oh, so that's what they're called. But hey, you've got a point. They don't look like those overachiever parents." He paused to take a sip of hot cocoa. "I've seen those type of parents in my neighbourhood-they work their kids to death and cane them mercilessly if they don't get an A for any subject. Some of them were driven to _suicide._ It's scary, believe me."

Keone shuddered. He thought about his father, who would be extremely strict when it came to training. He held high expectations of him and would sometimes shout at him whenever he made a small mistake. After all, his father was the _captain_ of the Octonauts. Being a captain was no joke; a good captain is required to be strong, brave, loyal, caring, resourceful, open-minded and many others. After they officially announced that Teressa was dead, Captain Barnacles started grooming him to become the future captain. It was extremely difficult for young Keone to cope with all the responsibilities burdened on his shoulders. Besides, the heir to the 'throne' had always been Teressa and nobody else. He was just meant to be an engineer.

Caspar noticed that his friend had zoned out and attempted to snap him back to reality. "Yohoo! Octopod to Keone! Oi, snap outta it!"

Keone yelped and blinked rapidly. "Sorry."

The grey cat waved a paw. "Think nothing of it. Hey, do you think that you can show me some cool stuff? Like, the submarines and inventions? Your mom is an engineer, right?"

"Sure, why not?"

 **…**

Tweak was in her workshop corner of her shared pod working on some blueprints for a new invention. When her son entered, she made an attempt to smile and look content, but she was having a hard time keeping her smile intact.

Keone smiled respectfully. "Mom? My friend wants to check out the gups and your cool inventions. If you're not too busy or…"

"It's not a problem. I always have time for ya. And I don't mind showing off my works." Tweak placed a heavy looking pencil case on top of her blueprint reached for one of her inventions lying on her table. "This one enables you to collect fragile eggs of sea creatures. I remember using this once when he had to help some daddy fish rescue his lost eggs." She took another one that resembled goggles. "This one enables you to find creatures that are hard to see by detecting body heat."

Tweak went on and on with her other inventions. Her creativity was unmatched, and her works had helped the Octonauts in many ways imaginable. Whether they were big or small, they were all made from the sheer effort and creativity of the bunny.

Keone had always loved his mother's inventions, and how she took pride in every single one of them. When he was young, he would try to create his own invention with scrap metal and spare parts that his mother would leave behind. Even though they were nothing but useless junk, Tweak would keep them as a memento.

Teressa laughed good-naturedly at Keone's creations and praise it with great exaggeration. The young Keone happily took in the praise and kept it close to his heart, pouring his childish happiness into his inventions. Now, whenever he looked at them, he would be overcomes with grief and sadness. Eventually it was all too much, and thus he snuck out of the Octopod during the night and buried them. That way his sadness would forever be buried beneath the ocean floor.

Caspar listened to Tweak with great interest and awe. His friend's mother was so cool! Normally the mothers back in California were either housewives or office workers, and their conversations were pretty generic. It was not about cooking, it was about their workplace (for the working women), shopping, their families or the latest perfume. But Tweak was an exception. She didn't seem the type of woman who had her head in the clouds. She seemed headstrong and independent, rare traits among the women in Caspar's hometown.

"I bet you know the Gup A already, since you arrived here with her. Now, here's the other gups." She pulled a lever and all the other gups surfaced from the water with synchronicity. And Tweak began talking about the Gup B's special abilities with confidence and pride.

 **…**

The Octopod was dead silent during lights out. Except for the quiet hum of the machinery and the occasional swishing of fish fins, all was still. That was, until a certain polar bear wriggled out of the comfort of his bed. He walked towards his roommate's bed and tried to shake him awake. "Oi, oii! Caspar! Heyyyy! Wakie wakie!" Keone whispered.

Caspar, who was obviously annoyed to have his beauty sleep disturbed, swatted Keone away as if he were an annoying mosquito. "Five… more minutes mom…"

"I'm not mum Caspar! It's Keone! Wake up!"

Caspar tried to ignore him and nestled himself deeper into the covers, hoping that his friend might change his mind and go back to sleep or do whatever midnight shenanigans he planned to do. However, he was persistent and continued to shake him relentlessly. Finally, the cat gave in and sat upright, rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes. "What the hell do you want? It's only two in the morning!"

"Technically, it's only one in the morning. And you promised to follow me!"

Caspar cocked his head to the left. "What? I didn't promise you anything that involves waking up at such an ungodly hour." He asked, confused.

Keone frowned. "You forgot? How old are you? Heck, the professor has better memory than you. Anyway, you promised to join me on my midnight swim."

Caspar tried to remember when he made such a promise to him. When was it? Certainly not lunch, neither dinner either.

The polar bear sighed. "During breakfast. Though on your part, you were quite drowsy during the morning."

"Don't remember. But a midnight swim sounds fun."

Keone went to collect two oxygen tanks and deep sea diving suits (the water was very cold at night and there were flashlights on the helmets anyway). After teaching him how to use them, he flipped the lever to open the octohatch. As silently as possible, they slipped out into the freezing ocean waters.

Even with the thick diving suit equipped, Caspar still felt the numbing cold gripping his entire being mercilessly. He shivered as he tightened his grip on Keone's paw. His usual cocky visage was replaced with uncertainty and fear. Keone didn't blame him-it was his first time diving.

He smiled to his friend, giving him a little bit of encouragement. "Follow whatever I do and you'll be alright."

They began swimming around the area, observing plant life and coral, along with the sea creatures that thrive in the night. Keone was able to name most of the creatures without fail, and sometimes even went deep into describing their characteristics and abilities.

After a while they decided to rest. They found a nice vacant rock to sit on and enjoy the serenity of the ocean.

"You seem to know marine life well." Caspar said.

The polar bear beamed with pride. "Yes. During my free time I read up books about it. It's good to be an all-rounder, yeah?"

The cat started swinging his legs, kicking sand and pebbles all over. "I bet you come out here a lot."

At this, Keone's happiness washed away like air escaping a balloon. He let out a heavy sigh and bowed his head. "Not really. I'm never allowed out, not even with company. My dad thinks I'm too young. He says he will let me go out when he thinks I'm old enough."

Caspar snorted. "Seriously? He treats you like a kid? And I thought that your dad is way cooler than mine."

"It's not like that… he's just scared that I'll end up like Teressa…"

"Teressa? Who's that?"

Keone tensed. "My… late sister."

At this, Caspar winced. "Whoops. Sorry. I didn't… never mind. Anyway, what were you on about about the stingers of the lion— _oow!"_

Caspar cried out in pain as he held his injured foot. At the area where he made a small hole on the seafloor, a glint of metal was poking out. Out of curiosity, Keone digged the metal object out. When he managed to pry it out, he sucked in a sharp breath.

It was his childhood invention. How did he manage to find it here? He buried it somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. He was not supposed to find it.

Come to think of it, Dashi did mention that they were headed for the Atlantic Ocean a few days ago, and his surroundings looked a tad bit familiar…

Cautiously, he looked at the hole to spot another of his forgotten creations that were surely still buried there. Sure enough, a hint of steel and a rusty screw were poking out of the sea floor. He dug them out, and they were indeed his.

Immediately, all the negative emotions that he had stored away came rushing back like seawater during high tide. Memories of Teressa overwhelmed his mind, and tears were threatening to spill out of his eyes. With renewed vigor, he dug out all of his inventions and hurled them, causing them to collide with a larger rock. It was reduced into a hundred pieces of scrap metal, rusty screws, bolts and wires.

Caspar could only stare dumbly at Keone. "What the hell was that for man? I'm sorry that I mentioned her. You don't have to go _that_ mental, geez."

Keone shook his head. "No, it's just that… I felt like throwing stuff, that's all."

Caspar didn't believe him, but took in the lie just because he didn't want to cause any more tension between them. It wasn't long before Keone decided to retire from the swim and go back to sleep.

 **…**

The next night, Keone paid Professor Inkling a visit.

"Why, hello there Keone! Do you require anything?" Inkling asked in his usual bright voice.

Keone simply smiled and said, "I'm here to do some general reading cause I can't sleep."

"Of course. Feel free to read anything you like."

The polar bear walked over to the nearest bookshelf, picked out random books and took a seat on a cushion beside Professor Inkling's armchair. All the while, he didn't seem to be concentrating on his books. Instead, he seemed distracted by something else that was on his mind. He kept fidgeting and diverting his gaze from the pages to his surroundings.

The professor noticed his restlessness and immediately knew that something was amiss. "I see that you're rather… fidgety. Is something wrong?"

Keone sighed and put his books aside. "You guessed it. Don't tell anyone, but I went out for a midnight swim with Caspar, and somehow he managed to find my childhood inventions that I buried years ago. It brought out those painful memories of sis and… oh god, I sound like a big baby. I'm sorry if I'm wasting your time whining about my whimsical problems…"

"Oh no, Keone! Don't ever say that. We all have problems, and it's natural that you want to vent them. Besides, it's bad to bottle up your feelings. Trust me, I've seen it happen before and the outcome was not good," he placed a tentacle on his shoulders, looking genuinely concerned. "And I know how much Teressa means to you. If crying it out makes you feel better, by all means do it. I promise that nobody will judge you; everything said and done tonight will remain in these four walls."

Immediately after he said that, Keone let out a wail. He covered his face with his paws as he cried his heart out, while the professor rubbed his back gently. It remained that way until he had no more tears to shed.

Keone sniffed as he blew his nose with a tissue. After using almost half the box, he felt better already. "Thanks professor. It really helped."

Inkling smiled. "It was nothing. I'm happy to help."

"Professor, if you don't mind… can I sleep with you tonight?" Keone asked tentatively.

The octopus looked rather surprised at his request. "Oh? You're not scared of the dark, are you?"

Keone chuckled. "No, it's just that I want some company with someone who truly understands. I would never hear the end of it if Caspar gains knowledge of what happened tonight."

Inkling laughed good-naturedly. "Of course! Make yourself comfortable while I get your pillow and blanket. If I remember correctly, I have it stashed at a chest somewhere…"

Keone was surprised that the professor still has his pillow and blanket. He would often sleep in the library with the professor when he was younger and more cowardly of the dark. Inkling would keep a spare pillow and blanket for him due to his frequent 'camping' in his library. He thought that he would discard it when he outgrew his fear of the dark, but it seemed that he knew this day would come and prepared for it.

"Ah, here it is!" came the triumphant voice of the professor as he returned with a ragged sky blue pillow and blanket. He settled it down beside his armchair and Keone snuggled under the thin blanket. It wouldn't provide much warmth, but he didn't care.

The entire Octopod became dark, signaling lights out. Keone slept peacefully that night.


End file.
